Thursday, September 28, 2006

Kumustahan sa Asia Pacific Concert in Saipan






Linggo. September 24, 2006. Excited kami nina Cathy at Cecille. Manonood kami ng concert ng APO Hiking Society, Nanette Inventor at Rachel Alejandro. Gaganapin ang concert sa Hopwood Junior High dito sa Saipan.

My ticket was worth $10 (P500). Last month ko pa ito binalak bilhin. First time ko to watch a concert here in Saipan.

The show started at around 7pm. Medyo may ambon ng konti kaya madaming nakapayong. Nakakatuwa kasi parang baratillo show lang sa probinsya ang dating. Isang maliit at payak na stage sa isang school, walang back-up dancer at walang band.

Si Dona Buding ang nag start ng show. As usual, classic si Nanette Inventor. Buhay OFW ang kwento nya. Mga experiences ng isang probinsyana na nangarap mag Japan (hindi pumasa sa audition kasi ibang "cultural dancer" ang hanap ng recruiter), tapos nag-apply bilang DH sa Hongkong (napeke naman so hanggang airport lang sya), naging DH sa Singapore at napadpad sa Saipan bilang cook at sewer. She presented the story in a funny way pero yung comedy nya parang sa Comedy Central. Nakakatawa pero may kurot sa puso. Isang sewer na 25 hours nagtatrabaho tapos nakatira sa barracks at ang katabi sa isang single bed ay isang Pakistani na hindi mahilig maligo. Hay, ang buhay OFW nga naman. Kumita lang ng dollar, kahit ano susuungin at titiisin.

Si Rachel Alejandro, sexy pa rin. Magaling sumayaw kaya lang ang weird tingnan ng isang performer na bigay todo pero walang back-up dancer sa stage. Para tuloy syang kawawa. Of course, kinanta nya yung favorite ni Cecille na "Nakapagtataka."

Syempre the stars of the show was the trio of Jim, Buboy and Danny, otherwise known as the Apo Hiking Society. They sang their classic songs like Ewan, Awit ng Barkada, Paano and many more. As usual ang galing ng mga antics ng APO. The most applauded was the modern version of the classic pinoy folk songs, like Felimon, Waray-waray, Magtanim ay di Biro etc.

I was ecstatic and giddy. I felt like I was back in the Philippines. I was listening to the songs of my childhood. Nanette sang classic Imelda Papin, Claire dela Fuente Songs. The songs played on the radio when I was young. It's funny but I was singing along. I knew all the lyrics by heart. Cecille was humming along because she wasn't that familiar with some of the songs. Cathy, who is much younger than us, enjoyed the songs but didn't know the lyrics very well. Singing along with the APO was like a revelation of how music seeps into one's subconscious. I listened to those songs when I was younger and I never exerted an effort to memorize them, but the lyrics came pouring in like rain.

The last song was "Ako ay Pilipino." I remember that song very well. It was our graduation song in grade school. It's an original Kuh Ledesma song. It was very touching hearing that song again. It just makes me feel, that yes, we Pinoys are really wonderful race except that we seem not to know it. It seems like we have so much potential for greatness but we always make the wrong choices when it comes to politics and many other things.

Its just so "jologs" that people didn't seem to know what to do in a concert. They just stood there (well the people near us) and never reacted. They didn't sway to the music. They didn't sing along and they just watched! Sabi nga ni Cecille, "Mukhang dinala nila ang problema nila dito sa concert."

After the show, we sat down at the $30 section. We were so tired standing for more than 2 hours. People were milling around the stage trying to get Nanette and Rachel's autograph. They bought CDs. I wanted to buy an APO CD (I was willing to shell out $15 for it) but they didn't have any. We were really feeling jologs that time, so we took pictures too. Cecille got Rachel's autograph and posed for pictures with her. Buhay OFW. Sino ang mag-aakala na gagawin ko ito. My friends back home would howl in laughter when they read this.

1 comment:

Angelo Villagomez said...

mmmmmmmm.....Rachel Alejandro